BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 650
AUTHOR: Lowenthal
AMENDED: April 6, 2011
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 13, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Daniel Alvarez
SUBJECT : Postsecondary Education: College Promise
Partnership Act.
SUMMARY
This bill permits Long Beach Community College District
(LBCCD) to admit students who are participants in the
College Promise Partnership, to any community college under
its jurisdiction as a special part-time or full-time
student and to permit assigned priority for enrollment and
course registration for these pupils.
BACKGROUND
Current law:
Authorizes a governing board of a school district, upon
recommendation of the principal of a student's school of
attendance, and with parental consent, to authorize a
student who would benefit from advanced scholastic or
vocational work to attend a community college as a special
part-time or full-time student.
Provides that, for purposes of receiving state
apportionments, California Community College (CCC)
districts may only include high school students within the
CCC district's report on full-time equivalent students
(FTES) if the students are enrolled in courses that are
open to the general public, as specified.
Allows the governing board of a CCC to restrict enrollment
of K-12 school district students based on age, completion
of a specified grade level, and demonstrated eligibility.
Requires the California Community College Chancellor's
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Office (CCCCO) to report to DOF annually on the amount of
FTES claimed by each CCC district for high school students
enrolled in non-credit, non-degree applicable, degree
applicable (excluding physical education), and
degree-applicable physical education, pursuant to the
aforementioned provisions.
ANALYSIS
This bill:
1) Permits the Long Beach Community College District and
the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) enter
into a partnership, under the College Promise
Partnership Act, to provide pupils with an aligned
sequence of high school coursework that leads to
college courses, as specified.
2) Specifies the purpose of the partnership is to provide
a bridge to college for pupils not already college
bound and to reduce the time for advanced student to
complete programs.
3) Requires pupils participating in the partnership to
complete the augmented California Standards Tests in
grade 11 and enroll in coursework in grade 12 to
remedy any deficiencies diagnosed.
4) Authorizes LBCCD to include high school pupils who
attend a community college within the district who
participate in a partnership to receive state
apportionments on the same basis as other community
college students.
5) Requires LBCCD and LBUSD to design curricular pathways
for a participating pupil to obtaining credit in
general education courses or a career technical
certificate or degree.
6) Requires the partnership to coordinate the delivery of
student support services including counseling to
participating pupils.
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7) Specifies the partnership does not sunset if at least
four of the following goals are achieved, as certified
jointly by the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges and the State Board of Education:
a) An increase in the percentage of school
district students who attend college directly from
high school.
b) An increase in the percentage of school
district students who are
determined by assessment or other means, to be
prepared for college-level English and mathematics by
the commencement of
their first regular semester at college.
c) An increase in the average number of college
units completed prior
to first semester enrollment by entering freshmen from
the school
district.
d) An increase in the number of students who
successfully complete college-level English and
mathematics in their first year.
e) An increase in the number of students who
complete 25 transferable units in their first year.
f) An increase in the number of school district
students who earn a
degree or certificated at the college, or successfully
transfer to a
four-year university, within four years of graduating
from high
school.
8) Requires the LBCCD to implement the partnership in a
manner that does not result in increased allocations
from the General Fund for the LBCCD.
9) Sunsets as of June 30, 2018, as specified.
STAFF COMMENTS
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1) Need for the bill. The Long Beach "College Promise"
is a nationally recognized program that provides early
and sustained outreach to students and families
through college transition, academic support and
guidance, guaranteed admission to California State
University, Long Beach, and a tuition-free first
semester at LBCCD. This bill takes the "College
Promise" to the next level by authorizing
collaboration between Long Beach's three premier
educational institutions to provide participating
pupils with:
a) Concurrent enrollment, so that LBUSD
students can earn college credit while they
simultaneously meet high school graduation
requirements;
b) Priority for enrollment and course
registration to certain students, as specified;
and
c) Measurable results that are clearly defined
with metrics that must be achieved, or else the
Act sunsets in 2019.
2) Additional background . Current law does not outline a
comprehensive strategy for concurrent enrollment. As
a result of past improper concurrent enrollment
practices, inadvertent barriers that inhibit the
creation and growth of more comprehensive practices
have been the result. The basic underlying concern is
that concurrent enrollment allows both the K-12
district and the CCC district to claim apportionments
for the same student (double-dipping). Does this
bill suffer from the same fate?
3) Prioritizing enrollment and displacement issues . As
the state continues to go through a significant
downturn in available funding for adult education and
community colleges, adult education (offered by K-12)
funding for this has been reduced by over 20 percent
and the remaining funding put into the "flexibility"
category meaning the funding has become discretionary,
with most K-12 school districts using these funds to
maintain the core K-12 programs within a district. In
addition, community colleges are suffering from
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budgetary shortfalls combined with increased student
demand, in part due to unemployment and the overall
economic slowdown, leaving the community colleges
unable to provide course offerings to fully meet
student needs. According to Chancellor Jack Scott,
the proposed 2011Budget translates into approximately
400,000 students losing access to classes (200,000
students already in the system for which the colleges
are receiving no state remuneration and roughly
200,000 additional students). When implementing
budget cuts in prior years, community college CEOs
were directed by state chancellor Jack Scott to retain
courses that lead to job retraining, degrees,
certificates, transfer, and that help increase basic
English and math skills.
This measure would include an additional priority for
enrollment and registration to include students that
are participating in the "College Promise." Staff
recommends an amendment that clearly cross-references
on page 9, line 30, priority of students that are in
the "College Promise Partnership" by inserting the
following "in accordance with Article 1.5 (commencing
with section 48810) of Chapter 5, of Part 27."
4) Sunset of "College Promise Partnership" is conditional
and contingent upon the certification by the State
Board of Education and the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges that at least four out
of six measureable objectives are met. Committee
staff believes that (1) a certification by the
specified parties may not yield useful analysis for
future replication of this program, and (2) having a
"conditional" sunset is not a typical practice of the
committee. Therefore, staff recommends an amendment
that (1) de-links extension of the program from the
envisioned certification, and (2) provides in-lieu of
the certification, an evaluation by an independent
evaluator selected by the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges in a competitive contracting
process, funded with resources provided by
participating entities, evaluate and provide
recommendations on the six areas identified in the
measure, and require a final report to be submitted by
December 30, 2016.
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5) Parental involvement is critical . The bill is silent
on receiving parental approval for students to
participate in the "College Promise Partnership."
Since Partnership high school students would be
concurrently enrolled in K-12 and community college,
staff recommends an amendment that ensures "parental
approval" for a program participant.
SUPPORT
Long Beach City College
Long Beach Unified School District
Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation
OPPOSITION
None on file.